All the Time in the World

It’s over… /sniff. Alias is over.

[a moment of silence]

The finale is creating quite a stir in the fandom, and I have to admit I’m pretty much torn. I can’t really put my head around it, I guess… it just seems like a slipshod and hectic way of ending something that had been building for five years – probably because they didn’t know until very late that it was ending at all.

For my own sanity, and to go over this with Lauren – because I know no one else that would read this really gives a hoot – I will delve into the madness that was [drumroll] THE END OF ALIAS.

My initial reaction was, “Aww, how sweet… but they didn’t answer anything!” Don’t get me wrong, if I had to have either answers or Syd/Vaughn shipperness I’d go with the shipperness. So I’m greatful to JJ and the crew for bringing my man back from the dead and giving him a nice little happy ending – I really am. Maybe it’s too much to ask for a little resolution to the plot as well.

Throughout the five seasons of Alias, the writers left themselves with many loose ends to tie up. Each finale we expected answers, and rarely did we get them. It seemed that these plot contrivances were created for convenience and discarded when they no longer had a use, instead of tying them up and moving on. Most of these things were Rambaldi. The only way I have found to make sense of all these problems, like the harvesting of the eggs, is to chalk it up to misinterpretation. I read a post on the forums where the viewer suggested that Rambaldi had always been a mystery, and that the only thing people knew for certain was that he had visions of the future and could create weapons of destruction. So, naturally, those who strove for power and glory attempted to unravel Rambaldi and find a way to harness his creations themselves. So, along the way, people tried to interpret his writings and inventions and made some missteps. Which helps me to believe this: Sydney wasn’t the chosen one. She was “this woman here depicted” but it never really said she was the chosen one. Sloane was the chosen one. (Wrap your head around that.) Sloane and Nadia fought and only one survived. The only thing Sydney did was bring the greatest power unto utter desolation… destroying Irina and the formula for immortality (which was the greatest power?).

So, if we look at it like that, a few more ends are tied and a little bit more makes sense. There are still some things that irk me, however. Like them saying that Sydney lived with Sloane and Emily when she was younger. Um, hello… if they would have kept the same writers throughout the five seasons (or, heaven forbid, made your new writers watch the first two seasons) they would have known that at Emily’s funeral Sydney says something along the lines of “I first met Emily shortly after starting work at Credit Dauphine.” I can try really hard to pretend that Sydney just blocked out that part of her life because it was so damn traumatic… but really? They dropped the ball.

Characterization.

Sydney and Vaughn. Both these characters I felt stayed true to their past behavior. I had no complaints.

Jack. I know people are very, very upset that Jack had to die, but really – he died nobly. He died protecting Sydney from the life he failed to protect her from when she was growing up. It was really very poetic and I was proud of Jack to the end. The only problem… did he really have to die to blow that charge? I mean, did he have to be holding it in his hands? Couldn’t he have thrown it down the hole and detonated it from the top?

Sloane. Sloane was completely in character to the end. The man had always loved the people closest to him, but Rambaldi most of all. In the end, his thirst for immortality and the Rambaldi endgame forced him to make difficult choices and prioritize. Just like he did with Nadia… he picked power over Sydney.

Irina. Yeah, I’ll admit… I’m upset about them making Irina evil. In season two there was all of this mother/daughter stuff that lead the viewers to believe that Irina had a heart somewhere in that chest of hers, and that, though she strove for ultimate power, she would always find a way to put Sydney first. I have a very hard time believing she’d take a cord to her daughter’s neck and try to strangle her. But maybe, as one viewer posted on the boards, this just proves how good Irina really was. She was a master of deception… we all know that. I guess you have to think of those moments where we saw her “good side” come through as times when she was just putting on an act… and successfully misleading the audience, as well as Sydney. And, for her part, she did try to have both. She tried to let Syd have her baby and a family… but that was contingent on Sydney letting her go. Which, of course, she couldn’t.

Sark. I’ll admit… when Vaughn was holding the gun to Sark I thought, “don’t kill him! Please don’t kill him!” I like Sark as a villain. I think in these two episodes he developed a little more of a conscience than he had in the past… but it worked. He was excellent comic relief (“Does it have to be so filthy? If Rambaldi could prophesy the future, he might have advised me not wear 500-dollar shoes” and a sort of comfort to those of us who still cling to the first two seasons. And can I say, the bit in the end about him being behind the next operation… the part where Syd says to Vaughn, “Don’t look at me. You’re the one who let him go.” Crack me up!

Dixon, Marshall… both very in character, and like Sark, a bit of a comfort in these our final hours. I loved that they brought Carrie in. Though she had a relatively small roll in the series she was an integral part and wonderfully captured by the actress. Nice touch.

Francie. Um, pathetic excuse for a “guest star” spot… she was only on screen for all of 15 seconds in a lame (and completely unnecessary) flashback. I wasn’t expecting you to bring her back from the dead, but…wth?

Having said all this, I look back and… maybe I have come to terms with the end of Alias. I admit, I wept like a baby. Or, you know, flipped out and sobbed for a good half hour. It’s sad to see something I’ve invested so much passion into go come to a conclusion. (Even if it is a TV show and all of you who are reading this… if you’re still reading… think I’m certifiably crazy. To those people I say, “go read the boards and see that I’m one of the more sane ones.”)

I have but one complaint that I cannot quietly put away:

WHERE THE HELL WAS WEISS?